A Trump supporter, center, is restrained after he storms the media area, as journalists including BBC reporter Gary O’Donoghue, second left, work during a rally with U.S. President Donald Trump in El Paso, Texas, U.S., on Monday, Feb. 11, 2019.Adria Malcolm/Bloomberg

However, BBC Washington Editor Eleanor Montague, whom he was with, told BBC the protester had attacked other crews within the rally but Skean “got the brunt of it.”

Trump, who noticed the altercation, checked whether Skeans was alright by giving him a thumbs-up. He continued his rally after the cameraman responded with the same gesture.

The assault coincided with the president’s speech, during which he criticized the media for misrepresenting him and producing “fake news.”

Just a sample of the sad scene we faced at the Trump rally in Tampa. I’m very worried that the hostility whipped up by Trump and some in conservative media will result in somebody getting hurt. We should not treat our fellow Americans this way. The press is not the enemy. pic.twitter.com/IhSRw5Ui3R

A Trump spokesman for the rally suggested that the protester was drunk.

This isn’t the first time Trump supporters have become violent towards news crew at a Trump rally. Last year CNN filmed protestors yelling abuse and swearing at reporters covering a rally in Florida.

Trump, in turn, has often supported and joked about violence against reporters and the media, going so far as to praise Rep. Greg Gianforte after he allegedly threw an American reporter to the ground in the final days of his bid for Congress.

“Any guy that can do a body slam, he’s my kind of — he’s my guy,” Trump said, according to the Washington Post.

“I’m very worried that the hostility whipped up by Trump and some in conservative media will result in somebody getting hurt,” tweeted Jim Acosta in response to the Florida incident.

UN experts last August warned that Trump’s attacks “increase the risk of journalists being attacked with violence” and suggested that his rhetoric was “strategic.”